Dutton Vocalion UK mining the Sony Music quad catalog for Multichannel SACD release!

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The various poll threads here on QQ have excellent quality album cover art, which it appears is culled from Amazon. Here's the link to the Fiedler one, I'm sure you can find the other ones (and leave reviews!) as well.
 
The various poll threads here on QQ have excellent quality album cover art, which it appears is culled from Amazon. Here's the link to the Fiedler one, I'm sure you can find the other ones (and leave reviews!) as well.

That's awesome! I did do a thorough search and couldn't come up with a album art that was worth a damn...so thanks for that. I guess I'll just look at the threads on QQ for the best art.
 
Just listening to Henry Mancini - Country Gentleman/Mancini Country. Wow, I love it....sounds exceptional. Better than Arthur Fiedler by far...IMO. :banana:
 
That's awesome! I did do a thorough search and couldn't come up with a album art that was worth a damn...so thanks for that. I guess I'll just look at the threads on QQ for the best art.

You're welcome. ;)

I was very happy to see such high quality front cover files for all of these DV SACDs on amazon, and that reminds me that I need to update a few of those poll threads with better cover art images.

:)
 
I obviously can't say anything about D-V's future plans at this point, but between here, their facebook page, email requests and suggestions from amateur know-it-alls like myself they definitely have their finger on the pulse of what people are after, both in popular and classical music. They may be relatively new to SACD, but they've been doing CD reissues for 20 years now so they know what they're doing, both in terms of the quality of their product and the titles they're choosing to release. I think we all have quad albums we'd like to see them release, but they have to strike a balance between 'dancing with the one that brung ya' (ie the customers who got them to where they are now) while also carefully expanding the scope of their quad releases, as paying to license a title that doesn't sell or releasing a title that leaves them with hundreds or thousands of unsold copies does no favours to anyone. They also seem to have a keen sense for finding hidden gems, and I think the positive reviews of the Kostelanetz and Legrand discs - albums no one was asking for - bear that out. So who knows, maybe your next favourite quad SACD will be one you didn't even know you wanted.

Vocalion has found an interesting niche in the SACD reissue market since none of the other reissue labels - or the major labels that own the recordings - are doing SACD remasters of Easy Listening albums or "Easy, Light & Latin" as Vocalion calls them.

There are many albums in that category from the Quad era in the Sony Music catalog that originally appeared on the RCA and Columbia labels. So I'd say Vocalion has many more of these they could issue in SACD Surround Sound if the current ones are selling well. In fact, I just sent them another list of suggested future SACD Surround titles - most of which are from artists they've already reissued on CD and in some cases SACD.

Looking forward to what they have in store in SACD Surround later this year. :)
 
Vocalion has found an interesting niche in the SACD reissue market since none of the other reissue labels - or the major labels that own the recordings - are doing SACD remasters of Easy Listening albums or "Easy, Light & Latin" as Vocalion calls them.

There are many albums in that category from the Quad era in the Sony Music catalog that originally appeared on the RCA and Columbia labels. So I'd say Vocalion has many more of these they could issue in SACD Surround Sound if the current ones are selling well. In fact, I just sent them another list of suggested future SACD Surround titles - most of which are from artists they've already reissued on CD and in some cases SACD.

Looking forward to what they have in store in SACD Surround later this year. :)

Me too! I wish, if they are going for easy listening...they would find some original material. Gotta be some floating around somewhere. Or maybe I don't mean original....just some other artists. What all artists would be candidates based on these labels?
 
You could make some guesses based on Mark Anderson's discography....

Best of Ed Ames
Best of Eddy Arnold
Richard Gold Orchestra
Stan & Doug: "Those Swedish Meatballs Are At It Again" :D



Me too! I wish, if they are going for easy listening...they would find some original material. Gotta be some floating around somewhere. Or maybe I don't mean original....just some other artists. What all artists would be candidates based on these labels?
 
You could make some guesses based on Mark Anderson's discography....

Best of Ed Ames
Best of Eddy Arnold
Richard Gold Orchestra
Stan & Doug: "Those Swedish Meatballs Are At It Again" :D

I see a few threads where people are giving Mark suggestions - but is there a single thread, with a single (large) list? What is it? Just RCA and Columbia?
 
So, I've been doing some wondering about how D-V is sustaining this program, with titles that wouldn't usually sell that well. As I understand it, a SACD hybrid order cannot typically be smaller than 5,000 discs, and I don't believe D-V expects to sell 5,000 discs of specialized material to surround enthusiasts. So they're clearly partly relying on people buying these discs as regular CDs, since many of these have gone out of print in the CD format, if they were ever released that way. I suppose they're keeping they're costs low, as well - Michael Dutton is doing all the audio parts himself, the booklets are straight copies of the LP notes and art, they don't seem to have a deal with a distributor and are just selling directly, and so forth.

I worry that their classical releases aren't getting enough attention, but I suppose they have a decent idea how to market their products in both the classical and easy listening genres at this point - they've been at this for a while.

As an aside, some of their own classical SACD recordings (sadly/bafflingly many are in stereo only) are seriously discounted on their website right now
 
MOST unfortunately, SONY was never a great custodian of their own resources. Ever wonder why SACD initially was a BUST? Even the Living Stereo reissues while 'rewarding' us with extra material have been bettered by the recent Analogue Production's Stereo/three channel SACD reissues (albeit, minus the bonus content). Even the Dylan SACD reissues were rife with problems and for years Miles Davis' Kind of Blue was plagued with off speed remasters (since corrected).

All of surroundophile's and ubertrout's Columbia/RCA QUAD recommendations are GREAT suggestions and D~V's commitment to excellence has surely manifested itself in recent QUAD SACD reissues.

I listened again to Rózsa conducts Rózsa last night and what D~V did with the original three channel RCA analogue masters by expanding it to the rear channels is nothing short of miraculous and ironically, D~V is roughly charging what SONY did for the original Living Stereo 'budget' SACD remasters....but this time around........ARE DOING IT RIGHT!

Sony did a great job with its stereo SACDs - first class job with the vintage classical recordings, for instance. The problem is that they were never particularly interested in surround - recall that multichannel was something Philips had pushed for, not Sony went along, but great surround mixes were rare for older recordings.

I'll disagree a bit regarding the Living Stereo SACDs done by RCA (before it was owned by Sony - it was still owned by BMG fully until 2004, and it was a joint venture with Sony until 2006). I'll continue to defend the 2004-2005 SACD releases - the sound is more neutral and less warm than the AP releases, but excellent in its own right. I understand the argument for the AP releases being superior, but I don't think anyone argues the RCA releases were of poor quality - and given that they offered twice the content for a third of the price...
 
Me too! I wish, if they are going for easy listening...they would find some original material. Gotta be some floating around somewhere. Or maybe I don't mean original....just some other artists. What all artists would be candidates based on these labels?

DV has also reissued some albums by Chet Atkins in the past, so maybe the Quad mix of "Superpickers" could find its way to an SACD in the future.

:)
 
So, I've been doing some wondering about how D-V is sustaining this program, with titles that wouldn't usually sell that well. As I understand it, a SACD hybrid order cannot typically be smaller than 5,000 discs, and I don't believe D-V expects to sell 5,000 discs of specialized material to surround enthusiasts. So they're clearly partly relying on people buying these discs as regular CDs, since many of these have gone out of print in the CD format, if they were ever released that way. I suppose they're keeping they're costs low, as well - Michael Dutton is doing all the audio parts himself, the booklets are straight copies of the LP notes and art, they don't seem to have a deal with a distributor and are just selling directly, and so forth.

That's probably why Vocalion is focusing on artists that they would already reissue on Stereo CD with their Surround SACD issues. The CD fans get a disc that delivers on CD players and they add the listeners who want SACD Stereo and SACD Surround Sound editions of those albums. :)
 
DV has also reissued some albums by Chet Atkins in the past, so maybe the Quad mix of "Superpickers" could find its way to an SACD in the future.

:)

Yes indeed. That one was on my request list to Dutton/Vocalion for SACD Surround reissue!
 
Probably some Johnny Mathis titles will be released at some point. There's at least 7 Quad titles from him.

The real prize there would be the album "I'm Coming Home" - arranged, conducted and produced by Thom Bell - famed for his Philly Soul work over the years.
Bell supervised the Quad Mix and it's very impressive, even on SQ LP and Q8 Tape. :)

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/1...n-interview-with-johnny-mathis-and-thom-bell/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5gi5pMLYM
 
Probably some Johnny Mathis titles will be released at some point. There's at least 7 Quad titles from him.

hope so! :)

afaik there's;

Love Story (*),
You've Got A Friend,
In Person - Live At Las Vegas,
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,
Song Sung Blue,
Me & Mrs Jones,
I'm Coming Home,
When Will I See You Again

(* Japanese SQ LP only)
 
The real prize there would be the album "I'm Coming Home" - arranged, conducted and produced by Thom Bell - famed for his Philly Soul work over the years.
Bell supervised the Quad Mix and it's very impressive, even on SQ LP and Q8 Tape. :)

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/1...n-interview-with-johnny-mathis-and-thom-bell/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5gi5pMLYM

Yes!! This would be a personal dream come true! Musically and mix wise it's gorgeous.
Apart from the musical talent, it also had a dream team at the controls in the studio with the original recording being engineered by Philly International's Joe Tarsia and the Surround Remix engineered by my Quad hero Larry Keyes (Quad mixes include; Caravanserai, Ten Years After, 360 Degrees Of Billy Paul, Loggins & Messina, EWF Spirit, BT Express, Johnnie Taylor's Eargasm, Isleys Go For Your Guns) together with Don Murray (Quad mixes include; Ship Ahoy, Stylistics, Spinners).. if DV were to only do one Mathis Quad if this one were it, would be awesome.
 
The real prize there would be the album "I'm Coming Home" - arranged, conducted and produced by Thom Bell - famed for his Philly Soul work over the years.
Bell supervised the Quad Mix and it's very impressive, even on SQ LP and Q8 Tape. :)

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/1...n-interview-with-johnny-mathis-and-thom-bell/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5gi5pMLYM

I've been harping :banana: about I'm Coming Home for several years here. It really is just amazing sounds and would translate into Quad to the tune :banana: of "as good as it gets" :)
 
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